Is The World Getting Better Or Worse?

If you had stopped at "None, really." it would have been a good answer.

I think one of the basic problems is that a large segment of society believes testimony and assertions are evidence. I don't think they understand that even the most famous scientist's testimony or assertions are also not evidence.Science is not based on what a scientist says or claims but only on the actual data that supports such claims and in addition the reproducibility of results or conclusions by other individuals, testing of the conclusions and other data sets. Not even the original data set is sufficient evidence; there must be additional independently gathered data sets that also lead to the same conclusions.Testimony is without a doubt the very weakest hint, evidence of nothing more than the possibility that the speaker believes what is being said.

And you Blog is a great example of Testimony, and again, the very lowest possible form of evidence.

Actually, since the National Cathedral is an Episcopalian Church it is the Episcopalians who are sharing it with others.Surprised that she is not bugged by the fact that Darth Vader is immortalized on the Cathedral as one of the "Grotesque" that divert rain and preserve the building.Edited by jar, : fix quote

You may believe that but of course reality and all the evidence say that once again you are simply wrong.

It has nothing to do with my standards Faith but rather reality. The Roman Catholic Church is one of the Christian Denominations and in fact the largest of the Christian Denominations.Reality trumps your beliefs Faith.

True, the Protestant Christian Genocides were separate events.

Yet Protestants were equally complicit in the genocide of the Native Americans, of the Ethnic Cleansing of the Americas, of wiping out the languages, customs, religions, dress, residency and occupation of the Native Americans.

And in the Pogroms in Europe and England.Protestants have been every bit as evil and violent as the Roman Catholics. Christianity as a whole has been primarily spread by the sword or coercion or profit.As a Christian we should be as honest about the evil we have done as well as take credit for any good or beautiful.

Sorry Faith but I doubt the Penobscots would agree with you.

Both Protestants and Roman Catholics persecuted the Jews. And Protestants massacred Roman Catholics and banished them in Ethnic Cleansing several times.

In England Protestantism was made the State Religion and Roman Catholics were not allowed to hold office and their properties were confiscated.The Penobscots were totally massacred by Protestants.Protestants and Roman Catholics bother persecuted the Native Americans, forced the peoples off their lands, banned their languages, dress, customs and religions.Come on Faith. Reality wins.

The old "Billy did it!" defense.Faith, the fact that Roman Catholics were defending Christianity through violence does not absolve Protestants for their genocides and ethnic cleansing.Faith, the fact that the Protestants were not being directed by some single authority does not absolve them for their genocides and ethnic cleansing.

The factor of religion played a really big part in the creation of the different colonies.New England was pretty much dominated by the Protestant fanatics like the Pilgrims.New York was originally dominated by Dutch and German Huguenots but later by primarily commercial English.Pennsylvania was a refuge for Quakers, Mennonites, Amish and Anabaptist but extended religious freedom to all Monotheists.Maryland was created as a sanctuary for Roman Catholics.Virginia was open to all religions, not just Monotheists, but was predominately Methodist and Presbyterian.North Carolina and South Carolina were primarily secular commercial creations.Georgia was created as a Prison Colony.The salient fact was that when it came time to create a new Nation from the separate colonies it was obvious that Christianity specifically and Religion Generally needed to be kept out of government.

So you say but why then were the Native Religions banned, the Native languages banned, Native children forced to dress like Europeans, Native Languages banned, the peoples lands taken and whole populations forced to move?Faith, in reality as opposed fantasy that is genocide and ethnic cleansing and was done by Protestant and Roman Catholics alike.